As an incentive for players to play games, many casinos provide a player reward system. In accordance with the reward system, a player's frequent play of one or more games is generally rewarded or compensated apart from any winnings the player may receive as a result of participating in the game directly. These rewards are generally referred to as “comps.” Comps may comprise awards such as free game plays, money, and free or discounted goods or services.
In accordance with the traditional reward system, a player enrolls in the casino's player reward system, establishing an identity. The casino generates one or more files associated with the player's identity. The player is issued a player tracking card having identification information associated with it. When a player plays a game, the player inserts their tracking card into a card reader. The reader reads the identification information and provides the information to a central computer where the player's file is stored. Thereafter, when the player plays the game, game play information is sent to the central computer and used to update the player's file with play information.
Most commonly, a player is awarded points for engaging in certain activities. For example, a player may be rewarded one or more points based upon amounts bet. Generally, points are generated at the gaming machine. For example, if a player wagers ten credits, then the player tracking device at the gaming machine may indicate that the player is entitled to one player reward point. The point information is accumulated during the player's play session, and then at the end of the session, a point total is transmitted to a remote server. The server maintains data records, such as player files, and associates the transmitted point information from the various gaming machines linked to it with the appropriate player to whom the points belong.
A player may travel to a player reward host and obtain information regarding the number of points acquired. If the level of points is sufficient, the player may be provided a reward.
In some instances, a casino may provide a player a “comp” even though the player has not yet reached a particular point level. For example, based on a player's past history of play, such as by examining the total number of points received over a predetermined earlier period of time, the casino may grant a player a comp such as a free nights' stay in order to entice the player to play more.
These player reward systems have a number of disadvantages. First, they are generally fairly rudimentary. The reward system generates player points based upon play, and then a player is permitted to redeem those points for an award once the points are acquired. Such a system does not track the player win for games played. A casino would rather reward players who bet large sums and win little than players who bet large sums and win large sums. The system also does not allow for tracking of the player's betting habits except for the player's bets over time. The system, for example, does not indicate which games the player prefers to play, games at which the player bets more to play, or the game which the player loses more money when playing. Such information would be extremely useful to a casino, not only from the standpoint of determining the best manner for awarding player play rewards, but for determining the games which yield the highest returns and that get played on an ongoing basis.
An improved tracking system for gaming machine play is desired.